Graduate student receives fellowship from FMC Technologies Inc.

Michael Dobbs, a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Springfield, has received a Graduate Fellowship from Chicago-based FMC Technologies, Inc. Dobbs, who is pursuing a master’s degree in Business Administration in the program offered by UIS in Peoria, will receive $9,000 for the 2009-2010 academic year.

Established in 1971, the fellowship program honors outstanding graduate students in business administration, economics, engineering, finance or related fields. Final selections are made by representatives from FMC Technologies, the University of Illinois, and the U of I Foundation.

Dobbs, who expects to graduate with his MBA in May 2010, completed an Associate Degree in Arts and Sciences at Illinois Central College in Peoria in 2006. He then earned a bachelor’s degree in Accountancy at UIS in Peoria, graduating in May 2008. While studying Accountancy, his accomplishments earned him the Joy Kilmer CPA Scholarship, the Louise Hartman Schewe Scholarship, and the Vollentine-Stanhope Accounting Scholarship.

After graduating in 2008, Dobbs began working as an accountant at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria where he provides professional fund accounting support and related services for the Department of Cancer, Biology and Pharmacology.

Dobbs’ ultimate goal is to obtain a full-time position that enables him to use his experience and education with a quality business or organization in the accounting or financial services industry.

Dr. Paul McDevitt, Director of the MBA Program, nominated Dobbs for the fellowship on behalf of the MBA faculty. He said the faculty characterize Dobbs as a personable and extremely diligent student with a great work ethic and a strong entrepreneurial bent. “Aside from his academic excellence, he has earned the respect of his colleagues for his active leadership and contributions to peers in his cohort,” McDevitt said.

The UIS Peoria MBA format is designed to meet the needs of students who are employed fulltime but wish to complete degree requirements in a timely manner. Courses are offered so that it is possible for students to complete degree requirements in less than two years.

The FMC Educational Fund (formerly the Link-Belt Educational Fund) was established in 1963 by U of I alumnus Bert Gayman, who donated a large block of company stock to the U of I Foundation. Designed to provide education and research opportunities, the fund now gives more than $135,000 annually for undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships at the University of Illinois.

See more information about the programs offered by UIS’ College of Business and Management.